里士满集团与弗吉尼亚州第二政党体制的建立

The Richmond Junto and the Establishment of the Second Party System in Virginia

美国弗吉尼亚州具有极端保守的政治传统,政党政治的现代转型落后于北部和中部各州。弗吉尼亚州的第一政党体制发展得并不完善,政党组织相对松散,发挥的作用极为有限,而且普通党员处于相对边缘化的地位,政党整体上要服从少数精英的利益。里士满集团是弗吉尼亚州共和党内的核心派系,长期控制着该州的政党政治,在传统的历史叙事中被塑造成腐败、神秘的精英政治集团。然而,里士满集团通过自身的政党机制建设,确立了政党的政治原则,既在基层拥有坚定支持者,又具有全国性的政治影响力,还拥有自己的政党报纸,带动了全州政党政治的现代转型,对第二政党体制在弗吉尼亚州的建立发挥了重要作用。弗吉尼亚州在老南部地区政治影响力巨大,发挥着政治方向标的作用,通过示范效应促使老南部各州建立了第二政党体制。随着奴隶制的进一步扩张,老南部地区的政治影响力急剧扩大,只有以弗吉尼亚州为代表的老南部州实现政党政治的现代转型,第二政党体制才算真正在美国全国范围内确立。

Virginia of the United States had an extremely conservative political tradition.The modern transformation of party politics in Virginia lagged behind the northern and central states.The First Party System in Virginia developed incompletely.The party organisation was relatively loose,playing a very limited role.Ordinary party members were in a relatively marginalised position.The political party as a whole should obey the interests of a few elites.The Richmond Junto was the core faction of the Virginian Republican,controlling the party politics of Virginia over a long period.It was shaped as a corrupt and mysterious elite political group in the traditional historical narrative.However,the Richmond Junto established the political principles of the party by its construction of the party mechanism.It not only owned strong supporters at the grass-rooted unit,but also possessed nationwide political influence.Besides,it owned a party newspaper.The Richmond Junto drove the modern transformation of the party politics in the whole state and played an important role in the establishment of the Second Party System in Virginia.Virginia played a role of political vane in the Old South,with great political influence there.It promoted the establishment of the Second Party System in the whole Old South through the demonstration effect.With further expansion of slavery,the political influence of the Old South grew dramatically.Only if the Old Southern states represented by Virginia completed the modern transformation of the party politics,the Second Party System was truly established in the United States.